Means for mounting and driving centrifugal machines



E. ROBERTS. I MEANS FOR MOUNTING AND DRIVING CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. I4, I9I8.

Patented July 5, 1921. 2 SHEETS-SHEET f.

E. ROBERTS.

MEANS FOR MOUNTING AND DRIVING CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES. APPLICATION FILEDFEB. 14. 1918.

1,383,568. Patented July 5, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

' 9 r a a 4 a Evenly? iat/K9; W

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE ROBERTS, OF SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, ASSIGNOR- TO THE WESTERN STATESMACHINE COMPANY.

MEANS FOR MOUNTING- AND DRIVING CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1921.

Application fi led February 14, 1918. Serial No. 217,156.

of Utah, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Means forMounting and DrivingG'entrifugal Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates machine art and has for its object the provisionof an eflicient, durable and reliable suspension and drive forcentrifugalbaskets of the type commonly used in sugar factories and forother purposes.-

As is known to those skilled in the art, the peculiar conditionsattending the use of this class of heavy centrifugal machines involvingthe suspension and rotation of'a heavy unbalanced mass of sugar whichtogether with the weight of the basket may weight 1200 or 1500 lbs.,make peculiarly difficult the provision of a fully efiicient,satisfactory and durable suspension and driving means adequate to meetsuch conditions.

One of the serious difficulties lies in the tendency to a chattering orvibration of the bearings employed for giving a rotary and gyratorysuspension to the basket shaft due to the powerful lateral shocks towhich these bearings are subjected by the violent swaying of thecentrifugal machine when coming up to speed with an unba'lancedload.An-. other problem peculiar to this art that has afforded difliculty isthe necessity for using motors of much larger size and cost than arerequired to keep the machines in normal operation owing to the necessityof frequently stopping and starting the machines within a minimum periodof time. It is the object of the present invention to affordimprovements tending to minimize or overcome the difficulties abovementioned and others as well that are incident to the operation ofcentrifugal machines of the suspended type for heavy work.

To this end the invention comprises a principle of construction andarrangement designed to overcome or minimize the tend el'lcy of thesuspended shaft and of its os- (-illatory head to raise from thesupporting seat under the impact of sldewlse shock,

, and the invention further consists in a principle of construction andarrangement by which a large loss of power 15 avolded through county ofSalt Lake, State.

to the centrifugal maintaining the driving shaft and ts motor incontinuous operation without intermittent stopping and braking byaffording an intermittent connection between anoverhead fixed drive.shaft, and the unnerneath suspended basket shaft through the agency ofan intermediate connecting shaft supported in fixed bearings and havlngpermanent but flexible/coupling connec tlon with the basket shaft, andhaving also intermittent clutch connection withthe overhead drivingshaft.

These and other features of the invention w1ll be explained in detail inthis specification and will be defined in the claims annexed hereto.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one of the formsembodying the principles of the present invention in which Figure 1 is avertical elevation partly in section showing the arrangement for mountng.and driving the centrifugal basket by means of an overhead shaft.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the plane indicated by section line 2 2 ofFig. 3.

ig. 3 is an enlarged detail vertical sectional view showing more.completely the'details of the bearing head construction in connectionwith the supporting hanger.

In the practice of my invention according to the form illustrated in thedrawings, I

provide a fixed hanger preferably made in' two separable sections a, afitting one inside of the other connected together detachably bysuspension bolts. In the upper part of said hanger is mounted a bearingor centralizing plate (1 having anti-friction bearing sleeve (1?affording lateral bearing support for the transmission shaft 6. Thisbearing plate a is'provided with a duct or passage a for the admissionof oil or grease to the bearing directly supporting the basket shaft,and also has a depending annular flange a adapted to firmly engage ayielding annular buffer 0, carried inside an upwardly extending annularflange b of an oscillatory bearing head I).

The bearing head .7) is substantially in the form of a hollow cylinderhaving near its upper end a downwardly projecting bearing ring 6 whichon its inner surface is concavely and spherically curved on a centercoinciding with the center of oscillation of the basket shaft. Thisconcave bearing To protect the elastic buffer which is commonly madeofvulcanized rubber from the action of oil in the bearing head, Iprovide a protecting ring a slipped over theoutside of the annularflange a and overlapping the inside upper end of the bearing head I)with which it has spherical contact so that the bearing head mayoscillate while retaining close contact with said protective member a".

In this class of centrifugal machines a large mass of raw sugar isdumped into the basket after which the basket is brought up to a speedof about 1100 R. P. M. The sugar thus dumped into the basket is veryunevenly distributed and the result is the violent side sway of thebasket until the load has'become evenly distributed which involves asevere shock laterally which it is the object of the elastic buffer 0 toyieldingly oppose. With the arrangements heretofore in use, this violentside thrust or shock had a tendency to lift the oscillatory head fromits bearing seat, and to at the same time, slightly de-centralize thebearing head, so that upon the return of the bearing head to its properposition on its bearing seat, there resulted a'violent chattering orvibration of bearings which is not only detrimental to the operation ofthe machine, but which imposes a very severe wear on the bearings. o IIn my present construction. and arrangement there are three features allof which contribute to minimizing or overcoming this objectionalchattering or vibration of the bearings. First, the oscillatory bearingfor supporting the bearing head from-which the gyratory basket shaft issuspended, is located above the center of oscillation, that is, on theopposite side of the center of oscillation from the basket load. Second,the centralizing elastic buffer is located'on the insideof the bearinghead so that, that portion of the bufl'er that is compressed by thesides wise sway of the basket, is arranged to also resist the lifting ofthe bearing head from its bearing seat instead of acting as a. fulcrumto permit such lifting as in the case where an external buffer is used.A third feature contributing to overcome this difficulty by makingimpossible any de-centralization of the bearing head even should it liftever so little from its seat, resides in the use of a supplementalbearing located around the center of oscillation of the bearing head,and having spherical engagement with a centralizing member or portion ofthe stationary or fixed hanger.

More particularly the supplemental bearing as shown in the drawingscomprises a convex spherically curved annular member aeeaeee 'thisconcave bearing part a separate member b which has a close piston fitwith the cylin d'rical inside face of fixed portion a of the hanger. Themaking of this bearing member b as a separate piece,v allows provisionfor wear, beside making the joint less rigid than if it were madeintegral with the hanger itself. Making the spherically curved convexbearing ring a in a separate piece, also tends to simplify the problemof manufacture and make easy the renewal of this part when worn. Itshould be understood that the curvature of the supplemental bearing andthe main supporting bearing for the oscillatory head is concentric.side-wise shoekbepowerful enough to raise the bearing head from itssupporting seat, the supplemental bearing surface would keep the bearinghead absolutely central within the hanger, and thus obviates chatteringor pounding which is seriously detrimental to the bearings.

The basket shaft is suspended in the oscillatory head in the followingmanner; A shortshaft section d with its lowerv end t'apered and havingan enlarged head or ball (i at its upper end, is provided with anencircling sectional sleeve comprising the upper member d. and the lowerm'emberd formed with suitable shoulders to receive the ball bearingraces d and d for supporting the shaft laterally inside the bearing headand adapted to receive the upper and lower ball bearing races d d whichare arranged on opposite sides of the inwardly projecting ledge d formedintermediate of the ends of the oscillatory head and arranged to receivethe endwise thrust of the shaft in either direction through the mediumof the upper and lower thrust bearin'gs (Z (.Z*. This bearing ledge isprovided with vertical passages b which allow the oil or grease to passfrom the upper into the lower portion of the bearing head formaintaining lubrication of the bearings.

The lower section d of the shaft-encircling sleeve is supported in itsposition by .means of the basket supporting head f fitted over the lowertapered end of the shaft d on which it is firmly secured by means of thecentral nut f on said shaft. The lower or basket end of the shaft f isrigidly ()upled to the suspension head 7 by means of suitable bolts. Thehead f is provided with an annular groove as shown at f to receive thevoil or grease sediment which may bedrawn off through the opening 7normally closed by a screw plug or stopper.

From. the upper end of the suspension Should any head f, extends anannular flange f terminating in a cylindrical brake pulley member 7,around which is located the brake band 7 by whose braking action thebasket shaft is stopped to permit discharge of the clarified sugar orother solid materia The shaft bearing sleeve d, d is made in twosections to facilitate the assembling and taking down of the machine.The upper sleeve section is inserted from the top of the shaft while thelower sleeve section is inserted from the bottom after the shaft hasbeen-placed in position, and when inserted carries the bearing race dwith it.

to the center of oscillation are inserted coupling pins 03 of preferablycylindrical form arranged to project upwardly and out wardly intointerlocking engagement with the notched or forked coupling member 6'provided at the lower end of the transmis-v sion shaft 6. The lattershaft is preferably concave to fit the convex spherical head d by whichits weight is supported and with which it remains in permanent contactduring the operation of the machine. It is the object of this couplingto afford an efficient driving connection between the fixed ornonoscillatory shaft e and the gyratory rotary basket shaft all, withoutsubjecting the fixed bearings of the shaft e to side-wise stress orstrain when the basket shaft oscillates.

- Lubrication is afforded to the interior of the bearing head for theflexible shaft couplings and the antifriction bearings, through the oilor grease duct a Lubrication is also alforded to the external sphericalbearing 6 by means of an oiled or greased 'duct a leading through thefixed hanger to the exterior of the oscillatory head I), while the dripis retained by'the upwardly extending brake flange f It has been commonpractice in centrifugal work of this class heretofore, to couple themotor shaft directly to the gyratory basket shaft by a flexible butpermanent coupling, or in some cases to couple the motor shaft directlyto the basket shaft by a centrifugal clutch coupling. In the presentinvention the overhead motor shaft 72, is a continuously running shaft,and carries centrifugally acting clutch blocks 71, which how- 'ever maybe disengaged from the surround ing clutch rim or pulley e fast on theintermediate shaft 0 by means of pivoted levers 123, whose upper endsare normally thrust inward by the outward movement of the clutch blockswhich may be opened apart by the upward movement of the conical slidesleete h which is raised and lowered byan the clutch rim undercentrifugal action, but

when the clutch releasing member k is In the upper end of the shaft oZquite close raised, the levers act to move inwardly the clutch blocksand disengage them from the clutch pulley e.

The arrangement above described also .is particularly applicable to ourarrangement for driving a battery of centrifugal machines from a lineshaft in accordance with the principles ex lained in my co-pendingapplication filed ber 165,158, since the drive shaft of each machine inthat case would be permanently geared with the line shaft, while havinga disconnectible and direct drive connection with the oscillatory basketshaft which does not transmit to the fixed bearings of the driving shaftany lateral strain due to the oscillation of the basket shaft. 7

As shown in Fig. 1, the clutch mechanism may be housed in a fixed hanger9 whose lower end is provided with a suitable bearing for the support ofthe intermediate or transmission shaft 6.

When stopping the machine at the elidof each run or load, the drivingclutch is disengaged in the manner described, and at the same time thebrake band is applied-to the brake pulley 7 so as to act directly uponthe pril 9, 1917, Serial Numbasket shaft without having to perform the 2extra duty of stopping the driving motor Whose mass at this speedacquires. great momentum.

For the purpose of cooling the brake pulley 7, I provide on the interiorthereof a series of inwardly projecting vanes f", and between which areplaced air-holes f so as to maintain a circulation of air through therim of the pulley and thus carry away the heat generated by the actionof the brake.

What-I claim is:

l. A driving mount for centrifugal machines embracing in itsconstruction an oscillatory bearing head provided with internal bearingsfor rotatably supporting the lateral and vertical thrust of the gyratorybasket shaft, a curved bearing seat affording a support for said bearinghead above the plane of its center of oscillation, a rotary basket shaftsupported on said internal bearings to oscillate with said head, acentralizing buffer having operative engagement with said bearing headto yieldmgly oppose its oscillatory movements, and a power transmittingshaft mounted co-axially above said basket shaft and having jointeddriving connection with said basket'shaft, substantially as described.

2. In a centrifugal machine the combination with a fixed hanger, of anoscillatory bearing head mounted upon said hanger'by a universal-jointsupport located above the center of oscillation, a centralizing bufferarranged above said universal-joint to engage said head and yieldinglyoppose the oscillation thereof and resist the lifting of a the bearinghead from its support, a basket shaft rotatably supported inside saidhead and lateral bearings inside said bearing head to oscillate inunison therewith'when rotating, a centralizing bufl'er arranged toengage said bearing head above its oscillatory seat, nd a powertransmitting shaft arrange above the basket shaft'and in alinementtherewith and having flexible coupling connection with said basket shaftfor driving purposes, substantially as described.

4. In a centrifugal machine the combination of a fixed hanger, anoscillatory head mounted thereon by a universal joint, a gyratory basketshaft supported on suitable bearings inside said bearing head, acentralizing buffer disposed interiorly of said bearing head, and afixed inember engaging the inside of said buffer to support the bufferin position to afford a yielding resistance to the oscillation of thebearing head, and means for rotating said basket shaft, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a centrifugal machine the combination of a' fixed hanger, anoscillatory head supported thereon by a unive sal-joint to permitoscillation, means for v pposing a 'elding resistance to saidoscillation, said caring member bein provided around its center of.oscillation with a supplemental centralizing bearing to maintain thehead in centralized position in case the head is lifted from itsuniversal-joint, a basket. shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing head,-and means for rotating said basket shaft, substantially as described.

6. In a centrifugal machine the combination of a fixed hanger, anoscillatory hearing head supported thereonby a universaljointengagement, said bearing head having also a supplemental centralizingbearing-engagement with said hanger to maintain the centralization ofthe head when lifted from its support, a centralizing buffer arranged tooppose a yielding resistance to the oscil lation of said bearing head,and a rotary basket shaft suspended on bearings inside said bearing headand partaking of its oscillatory movement, substantially as described.

7. In a centrifugal machine the combination of a fixed hanger, anoscillatory bearing head supported in said hanger on a unlversal-jointlocated above the center of 'stantially as described.

oscillation, a supplemental centralizing hearing comprising a convexlycurved ball portion surrounding said bearing head at its center ofoscillation, and a correspondingly concavely curved member engaging saidball portion and mounted to permit axial movement inside said fixedhanger, a centralizing buffer arranged to oppose yielding resistance tothe oscillation of said bearing head, and a rotary basket carrying shaftsup orted in bearings in said bearing head, su stantially as'described.

8. In centrifugal machines the combination of a fixed hanger, anoscillatory hearing head mounted thereon by a universaljoint engagement,a supplemental spherical bearing surrounding the bearing head at itscenter of oscillation, a centralizing buffer arranged to form aninternal engagement with said bearing head and a fixed buffer- 85supporting member having engagement with r the inside of said buffer,and a rotary basket shaft rotatably mounted for support in said bearinghead, substantially as described.

9, In centrifugal machines the combination of the oscillatory bearinghead provided intermediate of its ends with an inwardly projectingledge, thrust bearings arranged above and below said ledge to supportthe vertical thrust of the basket shaft in either direction, a rotarybasket shaft supported on said thrust bearings and having lateralbearing engagement to permit rotation, an over-head power transmittingshaft alined with said basket shaft and having flexible drivingconnection therewith, substantially as described.

10. The combiation of an oscillatory bearing head, a central basketshaft rota tably supported therein by suitable antifriction lateralbearings and thrust supporting bearings,-a, sectional shouldered sleevedivided transversely into upper and lower sections each sectionhavingengagement with a lateral and a thrust bearing to rotatablysupport the shaft, a suspended head detachably secured to the lower endof said shaft and provided with an upwardly extending external flangeforming abrake pulley, sub- 11. The combination of an oscillatorybearing head provided with internal antifriction thrust and lateralbearings, a rotary shaft rotatably supported by said bearings,

a suspended head detachably secured at the lower end of said shaft andhaving an annular flange encircling said beari' head, said flange beingprovided with internal vanes and having perforations to maintain acirculation of air between the bearin head and said flange,substantially as descriied.

12. A driving mount for a centrifugal machine embracing a fixed hanger,an oscillatory bearing head suspended therein by a umversaloint, arotary basket supporting shaft suspended inside said bearing head tooscillate in unison therewith, an over-head non-oscillatory co-axialpower transmitting shaft having flexible coupling connection with saidbasket shaft, a non-oscillatory driving shaft aliired with saidtransmission shaft and having clutch engagement with said powertransmitting shaft, and means for dis-engaging at will the clutchconnection between said two shafts, substantially as described.

13. A driving mount for centrifugal machines embracing in combination anoscillatory bearing head, a basket supporting shaft rotatably mountedtherein to oscillate therewith, a continuously running over-head drivingshaft, an intermediate non-oscil-.

latory power transmitting shaft having flexible coupling connection atits lower end with the basketshaft, and having clutching engagement atits upper end with the overhead drivin shaft, and means for operativelyclutchlng together and for operatively dis-engaging the driving shaftwith said intermediate shaft, substantially as described.

14. The combination of an oscillatory bearinghead, apentrifugal basketshaft rotatably suspended therein to oscillate therewith, a continuouslyrunning over-head driving shaft, an intermediate power transmittingshaft flexibly coupled at its lower end wlth said basket shaft, acentrifugal clutch for operatively clutching together the driving shaftand the intermediate shaft, and means operated at will to dis-engage thecentrifugal clutch'from operative driving position, substantially asdescribed.

15. The combination of the fixed hanger, an oscillatory bearing headmounted therein on a universal-joint, a centrifugal basket buffersupporting member arranged inside said buffer, and a buffer protectingring mounted on the outside of said fixed bufi'er supporting member andhaving engagement with the adjacent portion of the said oscillatorybearing head to afiord protection to said bufi'er from contact with oilinside said bearing head, substantially as described. 16. In asuspension for a centrifugal ma chine the combination with a fixedhanger provided with a convex spherical bearing seat, an oscillatoryhead having a concave bearing member adapted to fit over said sphericalbearing seat, a backet-carrying shaft suspended on rotary bearingsinside said oscillatory head, said bearing head being also provided witha supplemental convex spherical bearing engaging a concave bearing seatin said hanger in order to afi'ord lateral support for said bearinghead.

17. A suspension for a centrifugal machine embracing a fixed hangerhaving one convex spherical bearing seat and another concave sphericalbearing seat whose surfaces are concentric about a common center, anoscillatory head having two corresponding bearing members forminguniversal joint engagement with the aforesaid concentric bearings, and avertical shaft suspended inside said bearing head on rotary bear- 1n nwitness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

